A sudden set of footsteps sounded outside the door, not the crisp clicking of Yu Tao’er’s high heels on the floor, nor the light shuffling of A Xiang’s soft-soled cloth shoes. These were the sounds of high-top leather boots with iron-studded heels stepping on a wooden floor.
Meng Qing’s face suddenly hardened, his stern expression and sharp gaze instantly transforming completely into Tuo Fei Bai’s appearance. Yu Yi also sensed something was wrong and quickly put away the pistol on the table.
The door was knocked, and Wu Ma called from outside: ‘Commander, Young Master Fei Ying is here.’
Chapter 30 Warlords of the Republic (12)
‘Brother, how are your injuries? As soon as I heard you were hurt, I rushed over.”
The person who entered looked seven or eight parts similar to Tuo Fei Bai, with the same resolute jawline and straight nose. However, he appeared much younger than Tuo Fei Bai, with less bright eyes and slightly bluish circles underneath, bearing the weary look of someone who frequently indulges in late-night revelry. Yu Yi had seen many such people in the courtesan houses.
“Just a minor flesh wound, I’m fine now,” Meng Qing raised his eyebrows with a tone of mockery that Tuo Fei Ying would detect: “Fei Ying, your news is swift. Just a small injury, and the incident happened the day before yesterday. Let me calculate – you knew about it the day before yesterday?”
Tuo Fei Ying was unfazed by the mockery: “Fei Ying is just concerned about his elder brother!” Seeing Tuo Fei Bai seemingly acting normally disappointed him – could the information be incorrect? Was Tuo Fei Bai not seriously injured?
Meng Qing couldn’t be bothered to clarify. If Tuo Fei Ying truly cared, he should have come to support Tuo Fei Bai when the news of his treasonous agreement with a certain country was exposed. Coming to “show concern” after Tuo Fei Bai was injured was transparent to anyone.
“Let Fei Ying worry ‘in vain’, your big brother is doing great!” Meng Qing pulled Yu Yi, “Let’s go.”
Tuo Fei Ying couldn’t miss the implication of “in vain,” pretending not to understand. Seeing him pulling a female servant about to leave, she quickly asked: “Where are you going, big brother?”
Meng Qing didn’t even turn back, briefly uttering two words: “Out.” Yu Yi understood Meng Qing wanted Tuo Fei Ying to believe he wasn’t seriously injured, so she obediently followed him out.
Tuo Fei Ying looked at Yu Yi, noting her ordinary dress but beautiful appearance. He revealed a knowing smile: “When will you be back, big brother? Fei Ying will stay at your place tonight.”
Meng Qing casually waved his hand: “Stay, just don’t touch my woman.” Tuo Fei Ying laughed: “Brother, how can you paint me as a lecherous beast?”
Meng Qing gave a low, cold laugh, pulling Yu Yi downstairs. In the living room, Yu Yi gently broke free from his hand. She understood Meng Qing’s intention was to tell Tuo Fei Ying that she was his woman. She whispered: “He can’t see.”
Meng Qing pulled at the corner of his mouth. After driving for a while, Meng Qing suddenly asked: “Did I act convincingly?” Yu Yi, who had been gazing out the window, was startled, then understood his meaning. She turned to look at him and smiled: “Quite convincingly.”
“At least based on her observations of Tuo Fei Bai recently, Meng Qing’s demeanor, movements, and way of speaking were extremely similar to Tuo Fei Bai himself.
Meng Qing returned her smile: “That’s good.”
Tuo Fei Bai’s residence was already near the suburban area. After driving for a short while, they reached the outskirts. Meng Qing parked the car near a flat-topped rock, searched around for small stones or dirt blocks, and arranged them in a line on the rock. Then he gestured for Yu Yi to walk with him about ten meters away from the flat rock.
He squinted and estimated the distance, handing Tuo Fei Bai’s pistol to Yu Yi. “From this distance, start practicing your aim with this gun.”
Yu Yi raised the gun, aiming at the first stone on the large rock. Meng Qing said, “Your posture is wrong. If you hit the target like this, it would be a miracle.”
He walked behind Yu Yi and began correcting her stance. “Extend your right arm straight, raise the gun to eye level.”
Then he pulled her left hand, guiding it beneath her right hand. “Use this hand to support your right hand, keeping your arm slightly bent for stability. Aim with both eyes, aligning the gun’s sight with your target.”
Being taller and longer-armed than Yu Yi, Meng Qing stood behind her, supporting her gun-holding arms, slightly bending down to match her eye level. Yu Yi felt like she was in his embrace, his voice right by her ear.”
Yu Yi felt a bit dazed.
Although his breath still carried a faint smell of smoke, Yu Yi knew he wasn’t Tuo Fei Bai – he was someone she could trust. She took a deep breath, focusing all her attention on the sight and distant target.
“Keep your hands stable when firing… okay, shoot!”
Yu Yi held her breath and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang out, but the stone remained unmoved.
Yu Yi’s face felt slightly warm. She told herself this embarrassment was due to missing the target.
Meng Qing comforted her: “It’s okay, you’ll hit it with more practice.”
He still held her hands, helping her aim. The second shot hit a flat rock, the bullet grazing the rock’s surface, sparking a few fragments and a thin wisp of smoke.
“Good, keep aiming.”
Yu Yi cleared her mind, steadying her hands. When the sight completely overlapped with the small stone, she pulled the trigger. With the instant of the gunshot, the stone disappeared.
Yu Yi smiled happily. Meng Qing released her hand and said, “Good, continue to the next stone.”
Loading, aiming, shooting, missed. Yu Yi took a breath, loaded and aimed again, shooting, hitting the target.
Her mind was now clear of all other thoughts, with only the row of small stones on the flat rock existing in her mind.
Meng Qing gazed at Yu Yi’s focused profile.
Actually, this task should have been easier for him to complete on Gong Shi’s body, but Yu Yi had chosen this task first. The boss said to let her try first, then sent him to assist her, saying he should take care of her more in future missions. This made Meng Qing secretly speculate: did the boss have some special feelings towards her?
However, taking care of her was one thing, earning a reward was another. Meng Qing smiled, thinking that being able to do both would be ideal!
—
After practicing for most of the morning, Yu Yi could now hit seven or eight shots out of ten. She shook her sore arm and looked back, discovering Meng Qing was no longer beside her. Looking around, she found he had somehow found a large tree and was leaning against its trunk. She had been so focused on practicing that she hadn’t even noticed when he walked away.
Yu Yi, having practiced shooting for a long time, felt tired. She walked slowly to the large tree, seeing Meng Qing with his eyes tightly closed, leaning against a tree root, seemingly asleep, but his complexion was not good, his brow slightly furrowed. After all, it was a fatal injury, and even with miraculous medicine to stop bleeding and heal, it was extremely draining. Standing for so long would exhaust his energy.
Yu Yi did not wake him, nor did she continue practicing shooting.
She walked back to the car and sat inside, quietly waiting for him to wake up.
“Knock knock,” the car window was tapped. Yu Yi was startled and looked towards the sound, seeing Meng Qing bent over, smiling at her from outside the window. Seeing her come back to her senses, he opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat, starting the car and casually asking, “What were you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” Yu Yi shook her head lightly. “Are we going back?”
“Right, I’ve slept enough. You’ve practiced enough too?”
Yu Yi said nothing.
